People familiar with the matter say…

I have an article here in front of me from the Wall Street Journal, dated March 24, 2014, regarding the potential deal between Apple and Comcast. This article was of particular interest to me because I am an Apple stockholder and a user of all things Apple (iPhone 5, iPad mini and MacBookPro). I also am a Comcast subscriber, not by choice but because there is no competition in our area for cable.

As I was reading this article with interest, I came across the following phrases at least eight different times in the article

people familiar with the matter say

the people familiar with the matter say

said one person familiar with the talks

this person said

one person familiar with the talks

I understand about freedom of the press and the right to protect one’s sources. What I am trying to understand is if this story made the front page of the Wall Street Journal, then why were people afraid of being quoted? It made me wonder if no one could be directly quoted, then would this fall under mere speculation or a rumor mill? I know that news like this between two publicly traded companies can affect both companies’ stock prices. I also wondered about fact checking. How can facts be checked when there are no sources?

Hopefully a journalist or two or three will read this article and enlighten me! Comments are always appreciated.

On a side note, I recently started subscribing to the Wall Street Journal and I enjoy reading it. I do recognize some of the liberal slants/biases. I appreciate the broad spectrum of articles and that it is not just another boring financial paper.